Actor and technical advisor Dale Dye took a circuitous route to a film and TV career--20 years in the Marine Corps. He enlisted as a teenager in 1964, and spent from 1967 to 1970 in Vietnam, where he was wounded in action three times, fought in the Tet Offensive and helped evacuate Saigon and Phnom Penh. Dye served with the British Royal Marine Commandos in Norway and Denmark, and saw duty in Beirut in 1982. After mustering out, he was briefly executive editor of SOLDIER OF FORTUNE magazine. Frustrated by what he felt were inaccurate military portrayals in Hollywood, Dye landed his first job as a technical advisor (and bit player) in the 1986 sci-fi movie "Invaders from Mars." Forming Warriors, Inc., he set himself up as the film industry's resident drill sergeant and expert on military matters (and went on to land bit parts and more substantial supporting roles as officers, often in the films on which he advised). In 1986, Dye began his longest and perhaps most fruitful screen collaboration with writer-director Oliver Stone. The Oscar-winning "Platoon" (1986) and 1989's "Born on the Fourth of July" both impressed many with realistic depictions of combat in Vietnam. Dye also consulted on Stone's...

Actor and technical advisor Dale Dye took a circuitous route to a film and TV career--20 years in the Marine Corps. He enlisted as a teenager in 1964, and spent from 1967 to 1970 in Vietnam, where he was wounded in action three times, fought in the Tet Offensive and helped evacuate Saigon and Phnom Penh. Dye served with the British Royal Marine Commandos in Norway and Denmark, and saw duty in Beirut in 1982. After mustering out, he was briefly executive editor of SOLDIER OF FORTUNE magazine.

Frustrated by what he felt were inaccurate military portrayals in Hollywood, Dye landed his first job as a technical advisor (and bit player) in the 1986 sci-fi movie "Invaders from Mars." Forming Warriors, Inc., he set himself up as the film industry's resident drill sergeant and expert on military matters (and went on to land bit parts and more substantial supporting roles as officers, often in the films on which he advised). In 1986, Dye began his longest and perhaps most fruitful screen collaboration with writer-director Oliver Stone. The Oscar-winning "Platoon" (1986) and 1989's "Born on the Fourth of July" both impressed many with realistic depictions of combat in Vietnam. Dye also consulted on Stone's conspiracy-laden "JFK" (1991) and the hyper-violent "Natural Born Killers" (1994).

Dye further earned acclaim for overseeing the realistic military images in such efforts as the underrated "The Beast" (1988), set in Afghanistan, John Frankenheimer's Vietnam drama "The Fourth War" (1990) and Robert Zemickis' Oscar-winning "Forrest Gump" (1994). As an actor, he depicted a captain in Brian De Palma's "Casualties of War" and a fireman in Steven Spielberg's "Always" (both 1989). He co-starred, produced and provided the story for "Fire Birds" (1990), a drama in which the US Army and the Drug Enforcement Agency team up to fight smugglers. Frequently, Dye has portrayed military figures in such films as both "Under Siege" (1992) and its sequel "Under Siege 2: Dark Territory" (1994), "Blue Sky" (filmed in 1992; released in 1994) and "Outbreak" (1995). More recently, Dye was the advisor on the military content of such diverse films as Paul Verhoeven's futuristic "Starship Troopers" (1997), Joe Dante's "Small Soldiers" and Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" (both 1998). The latter was especially acclaimed for its reenactment of the storming of Omaha Beach.

Served as techinical advisor and appeared in the WWII-era HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers"

1967:

Served in Vietnam

1988:

TV debut (acting only) in series "Supercarrier" (ABC)

1986:

Formed Warriors, Incorporated, a technical advising company (date approximate)

1993:

Fourth collaboration with Stone, "Heaven and Earth"

1984:

Left Marines, served as editor of SOLDIER OF FORTUNE for one year

1991:

Reteamed with Oliver Stone for "JFK"

1989:

Reunited with Stone as both technical advisor and actor in "Born on the Fourth of July"

1994:

Served as technical advisor on Robert Zemeckis' Oscar-winner "Forrest Gump", starring Tom Hanks

1982:

Served in Beirut

1992:

Was military technical advisor on Michael Mann's "The Last of the Mohicans"

1990:

Debut as producer, also provided story and co-starred in "Fire Birds"

1986:

Initial collaboration with Oliver Stone, "Platoon"; served as technical advisor and played small role

1994:

Reteamed with Oliver Stone for a fifth time on "Natural Born Killers"

1997:

Acted as military technical advisor on "Starship Troopers"

1989:

First collaboration with Steven Spielberg, acted in "Always"

1994:

Reprised role in sequel "Under Siege 2: Dark Territory"

1998:

Served as technical advisor on Steven Spielberg's WWII-era drama "Saving Private Ryan", starring Tom Hanks; also had small role

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Education

Missouri Military Academy:
Mexico, Missouri -

University of Maryland:
Baltimore, Maryland - 1981

Notes

"The plain fact of the matter is there's so much about making films that is absolutely analogous to running a military outfit. In 21 years, I've had to do things you wouldn't believe in order to survive." --Dale Dye quoted in PREMIERE, January 1990

"Yes, my training is tough. It's particularly tough if you've never faced deprivation. Because deprivation is what soldiers live with constantly." --Dye on what he does through Warriors Incorporated, quoted in ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, July 24, 1998

"When I saw ['Saving Private Ryan'], the first guy I wanted to thank after the credits rolled was Dale Dye, because we looked like soldiers, and he did that. During boot camp and even during shooting, if you were forgetting the soldier side of your performance or your training, he'd scream at you. He'd say, we don't want to dishonor the guys who died on that beach or in that war, and I don't think we did." --Edward Burns to THE NEW YORK TIMES. July 19. 1998